Category: Uncategorized

I usually stay away from the gun debate as the argument is typically a no win ban guns-gun rights. And then some mention about mental illness that may or may not be the case.

Gun violence and guns, which will never get banned may be but one instrument of expressing the systemic maladies that so affect American society. There are the easy solutions, discipline the kids better, ban guns, ban bullets, limit magazines, run background checks. Played off of second amendment rights, and the pervasive crime and the expansion of gangs and violence. We won’t even get into preserving the country against the government, as that for me is a tough one to buy into to.

Guns are definitely part of the greater equation. But there are other significant considerations. What we never bother to ask, after 30 odd years of impressing on kids how special each one is, we never stop to wonder what effect it has when they discover that they are just another regular kid, at best one of many, at worst the freak, the outcast subjected to bullying and ridicule, reaching a point where they are ready to die to achieve their objectives as long as they can take a lot of their antagonists with them.

Then there is the fact that every third movie shows the best resolution is to go to the gun to resolve your problems within the allotted hour and 30 minute time frame. And then in grand cinematic fashion they shoot the shit out of the movie, or TV screen, massive gun play, to embellish the point. Add to that Violent video games. I realize certain people insist this is fantasy and kids make the distinction between real violence and fantasy. If that was the case then how do you explain say, with fashion in films and other behavior patterns that kids and adults readily emulate?

And then there is this other fact that is frequently overlooked. It seems that most mass shooters, especially young ones come from middle to affluent neighborhoods. Kids from poorer districts may get into gang violence, but you almost never see them shooting up a school or movie theater. They are too close to violence and seemingly are less inclined to live out the fantasy. So what is that about?

So in short this is a messed up society in far too many ways to think there is a single solution. Theoretically, banning all guns may eliminate mass shootings, but all reality dictates that is never going to happen. And then we have to ask the question that we had both gun ownership and schools since the creation of the country. And we seldom if ever heard of gun violence in schools or movie theaters or wherever until the past 50 years or so. And even that was sporadic. Charles Whitman, shooting from the University of Texas Tower was the first one that comes to mind, in 1966. But following that such events were rare, if anything. And even then Whitman had used knives to kill his wife and mother, before climbing the tower. He liked to mix it up a bit. The next major mass school shooting was Columbine in 1994. And then it kicked in from there.

There are other considerations, but I’m sure by now you get the point.

So besides the gun issue, the killings are most horrific, we should be asking ourselves what are we doing to this society over the past several decades to bring this shit about.

Minstrel’s Alley author, Gordon Basichis, has been selected for inclusion in the 13th Edition of Levure Litteraire, a prestigious literary publication featuring poets, authors, and artists from around the world. The latest edition of the online publication includes Chapter Eleven of Basichis’ novel, The Blood Orange.

“I am delighted to be included in such a wonderful publication with so many terrific writers and authors,” said Author, Gordon Basichis. “There is just a richness in the works of these writers that demonstrates indeed that literature and poetry are alive and well around the world.”

“I would especially like to thank Helene Cardona, John Fitzgerald, and Rodica Meyer for inviting me into this 13th edition. These are terrific writers and poets, truly committed to extending and maintaining the global literary culture. It is truly an honor to be included here. It is something in today’s world that Levure Litteraire, a publication with this kind of character is still going strong, maybe stronger than ever, since its creation in 2010. It is a remarkably fertile ground for literature, poetry, the arts, and global culture.

Basichis noted that The Blood Orange is a romantic mystery thriller, a post-modernist version of classical Southern California Noir. He pointed out it is set in modern day Los Angeles, while drawing on the legends of historic Spanish California.

“The Blood Orange features contemporary L.A. as a principal character in a modern day story that incorporates the old California Bandit legends with contemporary intrigue, violence, and internecine struggles,” said Basichis.

Minstrel’s Alley author, Gordon Basichis, is writing a non-fiction follow up to his earlier novel, The Guys Who Spied for China. The novel was a Quarter Finalist in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Fiction Awards, and is a roman a clef based on Basichis’ true experiences, detailing how Chinese Espionage Networks were first discovered in the United States during the early and middle 1980’s. Basichis intends for the new book to describe the progress and failures in thwarting Chinese espionage attempts in recent years.

“I’m not the first one to say the United States policy toward China is inconsistent and often erratic,” said Basichis. “It is understandable, considering we are in a co-dependent relationship with neither side wanting to ever stretch tensions to the breaking point. At the same time, it has cost this country dearly in stolen technology and real and potential advantages in both the global economy and military superiority.

Basichis indicated that the book he is considering will be non-fiction and will help address the need for a more coherent policy toward China. He noted how the recent Chinese military buildup is based on both homegrown technology and advanced technology stolen from the American Defense Industry.

Minstrel’s Alley, an independent publishing and media group, is seeing a great deal of interesting with stories about Cuba. The Los Angeles based company recently published author Gordon Basichis’ latest novel, “The Cuban Quartet,” and international romantic mystery, seeded on the rumors and legends surrounding missing mob money when Castro marched into Havana.

“Cuba is the new landscape for dramatic fiction,” said M.J. Hammond, Publisher and President of Minstrel’s Alley. “It is decaying and mysterious, sultry and filled with legend, the perfect setting for romance and adventure. “It is why we decided to a romantic adventure like The Cuban Quartet was just right for the times.”

“When we first published Gordon Basichis’ novel, his fifth, the whole Cuban interest thing was just beginning to happen. The Cuban Quartet, was just right for publication as the heart of the story was wrapped around an old myth told to Gordon by older friend, a former CIA agent who had been stationed in Cuba, before Castro not long before it fell to Castro.”

Here is what I find disturbing about this election campaign. It is less about the candidates than the people supporting them. It is less about the short term and the longer term and the fate of the nation. I have long held the mantra that I will survive any asshole who gets the job, so the hysteria of what one will do as opposed to the other leaves me if not sanguine at least skeptical about their ultimate potency. In short, not much changes.

But we have turned a new corner with their supporters. The supporters are so intent on stopping one candidate or the other they have given their direct or tacit approval to the manipulation of certain realities so that they will overlook even the most obvious displays of corruption and duplicity. In their alleged quest for the GREATER GOOD, it is now okay for the media to be openly partial, to fudge the facts, or, worse, to bury seriously damaging information that would adversely effect their candidate. It has now become okay to lie, cheat, obfuscate and conceal. All again for the GREATER GOOD.

Well, this is why it is often said the path to hell is paved with good intentions. The quest to stop one candidate or the other at ANY PRICE relinquishes the power and control over the news and informational venues and grants them the same kind of access that Pravda used to share in the old Soviet Union. Events are no longer merely matters of interpretation. They are instead instruments of propaganda. This is a Bad Precedent. This is Dangerous. This is how the path to good intentions turns at the fork onto a proto-fascist thoroughfare where the news agencies and the information sources are firmly controlled by the corporate instruments.

Historically, this is how people lock themselves in the cages of their own creation, and then spend years wondering how and why. You are in essence giving them the license. So in an attempt to stop a candidate at any cost you are paying a far greater price than you may realize.